Barren Earth
by Youth of Australia
Summary: A year on from Bad Wolf Bay Rose Tyler intends to save Pete's world. At whatever the cost...
1. Chapter 1

_**BARREN EARTH**_

_**1:** Suffer the Children_

_Zeppelins fly through the sky, passing Torchwood Tower. The Head of Torchwood, Rose Tyler, sits in her desk in her office. Mickey Smith enters in a sharp suit looking over some print outs. The mood is sombre._

**Rose: **Nothing on the scanner today?

**Mickey:** _(not looking up from papers) _No, babe, same answer as yesterday and the day before that and every day since you started broadcasting. _(puts down papers) _Look, Rose, you gotta accept it. It's over. It ended at Bad Wolf Bay - not our fault, not his fault, but we're on our own now. The Doctor can't help us.

**Rose: **I know, I know! But there was another you in this universe, another dad, another mum. Why not another Doctor?

**Mickey: **Maybe his war with the Daleks actually ended here. There wasn't another you here. Maybe he wasn't born here either. Or maybe he's so different he couldn't care less about Earth.

**Rose: **That signal is set specifically to his TARDIS. He's got to pick it up!

**Mickey:** You mean, the TARDIS that he stole? The one that, if it exists, might belong to its proper owner, who doesn't go round the universe stirring up trouble? _(sighs) _Stochastic reports, sweetheart. Twelve times, same thing every time. Adapt or die.

**Rose: **There's got to be another way.

**Mickey: **We're still looking, but all the computers say the same. Unless we start by tomorrow, it won't work anyway.

**Rose: **And there's still not contact with any aliens?

**Mickey:** Nah. I told you, the Sycorax deal ended different here. A lot more screaming and threats - as far as the rest of the universe is concerned, Earth is marked "HERE BE MONSTERS". No one's coming. At least not soon enough to change things.

_A chime. The wall screen lights up, showing Jake._

**Jake: **Mr Smith. Mrs Smith. Got a wandering idiot in the Fylingdale op. He says he's claiming his constitutional rights and he wants to contact the head of Torchwood.

**Mickey:** _(rolls eyes) _And we have to let him?

**Jake: **Unless President Jones rethinks the constitution.

**Rose: **_(rubs eyes)_ OK, Jake. Put him through.

_A blonde haired man is shoved into view. Mickey checks a palm computer._

**Mickey: **Benjamin Sebastian Chatham, archaeological student from Oxford. So, student boy, why aren't you smart enough to understand signs saying 'Torchwood - Keep Out'?

**Ben: **This is my dig. I started it three weeks ago.

**Rose: **According to the Xenotech Protocol act of 20.8 paragraph three, subsection two, Torchwood has full rights to all areas classified as alien incursions until as and when the situation is declared safe for citizens and Torchwood withdrawn. Don't you watch the news?

**Ben: **You're the same lot that took away my ear pods, you know how much they cost?

**Mickey:** You're lucky to still have your life. The ear pods are unsafe. The Presidium can give you all the details you want, student boy. So, if you want to go back to your rooms, we'll let you back in once the xeno tech is examined.

**Ben: **What? Like THIS xeno-tech?!

_He holds up what looks like a sonic screwdriver with a crystal ball on the end._

**Ben: **I found it first, my privilege. So, if you want it, you can clear off my site.

**Rose:** We could just take it from you. It's within the law.

**Ben: **It's within the law to smash it here and now.

**Rose:** _(annoyed) _Look, Mr... Chatham, was it? What do you want? If that's all the xeno-tech, give it to us and we'll be gone before lunch time.

**Ben: **I want, Mrs Smith, for you lot never to bother me again.

**Mickey: **_(brightly) _Oh, easy. Commander Simmonds there will just blow your head off.

**Rose: **Leave him alone, Mickey. _(to Ben)_ You want some kind of official document? So you can wave it in our faces and make you leave us alone?

**Ben: **Oh, and some recompense for the time wasted and damage done.

**Mickey: **Seriously. We can shoot you. Not joking.

**Rose: **All right! Jake, keep searching for further evidence, and try not to make a mess. Have him brought here to me, and we can do a deal like proper human beings.

**Ben:** At last! I'm part of the Archaeological Preservers Trust, and we've been campaigning for Torchwood autonomy for the last two year--

**Rose: **Yeah, thanks for sharing, Mr. Chatham.

_She switches off the screen._

**Rose: **God, as if things weren't bad enough.

**Mickey:** What are you going to do about him?

**Rose: **Get some very specific retcon brewed, Mickey. I want him to not remember anything about this dig and also be extremely mellow when it comes to outside interference.

_Mickey makes a note._

**Mickey: **We are using that stuff too much nowadays.

**Rose: **Needs must when the devil drives, Mickey.

_Mickey heads for the exit._

**Mickey: **The Doctor, he'd be real glad to see how you haven't changed.

**Rose: **I do what I have to do, Mickey. For us. For the human race.

_She rises from her desk. She's eight months pregnant._

**Rose: **For our children.

_**To be continued in** Better the Devil..._


	2. Chapter 2

_**BARREN EARTH**_

_**2:** Better the Devil..._

_Under guard, Ben Chatham is taken by a Torchwood van into an underground basement. After four security checks - passcard, voice recognition, retinal scan, they enter a lift and emerge on the top floor of Torchwood Tower. Ben is marched through to the glass office where Rose is placing three cups of tea on the desk. Mickey is looking out the window._

**Rose: **Ah, Mr. Chatham. Do sit down. You have milk or sugar in your tea?

**Ben: **_(suspicious) _I'll just have it plain.

_Rose shrugs and puts aside the milk and sugar. She sits behind her desk._

**Rose: **You know how old I am, Mr. Chatham?

**Ben: **No.

**Rose: **Twenty-one. And you know what I've learned after all those years? You don't get something for nothing. There's always a price. And at the end of the day, the only choice we have is whether we are going to pay that price. You still with me?

**Ben:** Of course. I'm not an idiot.

**Mickey: **Course not. You gotta a first from Cambridge. Then again, standards are going downhill.

_Ben glares at him._

**Ben: **Do you mind? I'm speaking to the organ grinder. Not the monkey.

**Mickey: **_(smiles) _If I'm the monkey, YOU are the hat we get the spare change in.

**Ben: **Look, I want to get on with my studies without you lot pestering me. Promise me that, and you can have this gadget.

_He holds it up. Rose moves to take it, but Ben pulls it out of reach._

**Ben: **Deal?

**Rose:** _(sighs) _Any idea what it is?

_Mickey runs his palm pilot near the device._

**Mickey: **Some kind of field generator. Still working, but that's all I can make out.

**Rose: **Any obvious use?

_Mickey shakes his head._

**Rose: **Pity. All right, Mr. Chatham. Those are your terms. These are mine. You'll get your carte blanch - but first I want you to answer a question.

**Ben: **Go on?

**Rose: **When was the last time you saw a pregnant woman?

**Ben: **Just now. You. Obviously.

**Rose: **And before that?

_Ben is quiet._

**Rose: **This year? Last year, maybe? When was the last time you saw a newborn baby?

**Ben: **_(shrugs) _I don't know. A couple of months ago.

**Rose: **And not one since. You heard about Barren Earth?

**Ben: **Oh, it's just another doomsday fear. Like global warming. That sorted itself out.

**Rose:** _(bitterly) _Cause it wasn't global warming, it was a dimensional breach. The facts, Mr. Chatham, is that there hasn't been a baby born in Britain for eight months. A year in New Germany. Three years for South Africa. Mankind is becoming sterile.

**Ben: **Nonsense.

**Mickey:** Is it? You read the papers. President Jones is authorizing a cut back of day care centres and nursery schools. Why? Cause they're not needed. The whole world is turning into _Children of Man_, 3-D.

**Ben: **What?

**Rose:** Never mind.

**Ben: **Look, you two seem rather... expectant. Are you infertile too?

**Rose:** No.

**Mickey: **But we're special. Not from this universe. But, oddly enough, having one breeding couple isn't going to save humanity, now, is it?

**Rose:** Hope not, this is painful enough the first time.

**Ben: **So... what?

**Rose:** We've checked it out. If things don't change, humanity has about another twenty five years and that's it. Extinction. Doesn't matter if we colonize Mars or cure all diseases, we're all gonna die and no one is going to replace us.

**Ben: **...what's this got to do with me?

**Mickey:** _(laughs) _You're not part of humanity then?

**Ben: **I mean, why tell me this? What can I do? Stop being gay?

**Rose:** I'm not saying that. I'm just saying, you're a fit bloke. Your file says you've got not just boyfriends, but girlfriends.

**Ben: **So what? Breed for Britain, is that it?

**Mickey: **You couldn't anyway. I checked it out. You're as sterile as a petri dish. Dunno if you ever wanted kids, student boy, but you ain't ever having them, Barren Earth or not.

_Ben blinks, falling quiet. He sips from his cup of tea._

**Rose: **But I can fix that.

**Mickey:** _(quickly)_ Not the way you think.

**Ben: **Oh? How then?

**Rose: **Xeno-tech. One injection, you're fertile again. It's been adapted into a kind of benevolent STD. Any one of your parters will become fertile too. We just need someone...

**Ben:** As a test subject?

**Rose: **No. Just to be the first.

**Ben:** If you've got this magic potion, why not use it?

**Rose: **Because... it will make our children different. Strong, yeah, healthy, yeah. But not like us. I mean, they'll be human, no two heads. But genetically, they'll be, well, pure. None of your kids will have your DNA. If we do this... ethnic diversity ends.

**Ben: **Ethnic cleansing?

**Mickey:** Fraid so. In a hundred years time, there'll just be one type of humans. Not black, not white, not Chinese, not Asian... It's not some kind of evil master plan, you get that, right? We've spent over a year trying to change it. But it won't. And unless we get this into the population starting now, it won't make a difference.

**Rose: **So... Ben. Are you willing to be the first? The man that saves mankind as a species?

_Ben is uncertain._

_**To be continued in 3:** Two Paths You Can Go Down_


	3. Chapter 3

_**BARREN EARTH**_

_**3:** Two Paths You Can Go Down_

_Mickey picks up a gun-like hypodermic needle device._

**Mickey: **Injects by hypo spray. Painless.

**Ben: **I haven't said yes! Look, why haven't you taken it?

**Mickey:** I don't need it, student boy. I'm not firing blanks, and my wife is living proof.

**Ben:** Does the President know what's going on?

**Rose:** _(nods) _Not all the details, but she's authorized us to use this stuff. As long as no one is killed, and birth rates rise and secrecy is maintained, she's happy. We're not just gonna make life, we're gonna save it. Twenty-three teenage girls committed suicide in last month alone, when they twigged they could never have kids. This will stop that.

**Ben: **There's got to be some other way.

**Mickey:** There is. Cybermen.

**Ben:** You're not suggesting...

**Rose: **No. We're not. But we've checked. Humanity's ground to a halt. Either we prevent death and become Cybermen, or we start over, with this _(indicates hypo)_. The stuff only effects the next generation. You'll still be fine. So will any of your lovers.

**Ben: **You can't! You haven't seen the future, have you? How do you know we'll become extinct?

**Rose:** Believe it or not, Ben, me and Mickey have seen the future. But, no, we don't know if mankind will survive this century. All we know is that there is a 97.6 per cent chance it won't unless we release the virus here and now. Are you going to be the first?

**Ben: **I... _(shakes his head)_ My head. Fuzzy.

**Rose: **Oh, that'll be the retcon. You'll wake up tomorrow, feeling nice and good and with a newfound respect for us. Oh, and you'll probably want to celebrate with one of your girl friends. Congratulations, in advance. Even if she doesn't want to keep it, she'll be fertile from now on.

**Ben: **Hey... hey, I... I didn't say...

**Rose:** Say what?

**Ben: **...yes...

**Rose: **Oh, hear that Mickey? He agrees. Jab him one.

_Ben's head falls back, eyes unfocussed. Mickey doesn't move._

**Mickey: **He didn't say yes, Rose.

**Rose: **Don't upset a pregnant woman, Mickey. Don't upset your boss. And never upset your boss when she's pregnant AND your wife. It's not gonna hurt him. Look, you know as well as I do. We've gotta survive.

_Mickey nods and is about to inject Ben in the neck when he suddenly convulses._

**Ben: **No! No! Leave me alone!

_Ben reaches forward and grabs the gadget. The crystal sphere flashes with lightening, that spreads out to totally engulf Ben. Rose and Mickey back away. Ben is now frozen, transparent, with energy coursing through him._

**Mickey: **What the hell is happening?

**Rose: **He's frozen... frozen in time.

**Mickey:** So, then, boss. What do we do now?

_Rose glares at him._

_The freezing energy releases Ben and he stumbles. Everything is spinning around him, looming closer and then drawing away. Ben takes a step, still clutching the gadget, then falls over and is violently sick. He rolls over, eyes opening. He's lying in the office – but it now deserted. Getting unsteadily to his feet, he looks around, still dazed. There is no one on the floor._

**Ben:** Huh... M... Mrs... Smith? Hello? What happened?

_He moves through the chambers beyond._

**Ben: **What the hell happened? Where am I? (checks watch) That's stopped too. Hello?

_Ben moves down to the lift, but loses his balance and falls over. He loses consciousness once more._

_Mickey and Rose stand to one side as technicians are circling the frozen Ben. One technician, Griffin, approaches._

**Griffin: **Well, there's not much to be examined, but the energy aura seems to be decaying at an exponential rate. In a few hours it should clear completely and release him.

**Mickey:** Any idea what's happening to him?

**Griffin: **Like you said, Mr. Smith. He's frozen in time. Or rather, time is frozen around him. This man seems to have been projected into some other time and place, but not completely. Like a bit of elastic he'll snap back to the here and now when the energy field breaks down.

**Rose:** So, he should be all right?

**Griffin: **Should be. I'm sorry, but I can't be any more accurate than that.

_Griffin moves off. Mickey sighs._

**Mickey: **There goes the lab rat. So, you want to try preparing to be put in the water supply? Cause, that could mean a population explosion...

**Rose: **No. We'll have to go public.

**Mickey: **Public? Rose, sugar, what are you thinking?

**Rose: **The Doctor once said that 'Your children are the door to the future and you may not enter.'

**Mickey: **He also said 'Many a mick micks a muckle'.

**Rose:** We'll get Harriet Jones to help, explain things.

**Mickey:** No one is going to take it, Rose. At least, not until it's too late.

**Rose: **Then we'll prove it's safe.

**Mickey:** And how do we do that?

**Rose: **Me. I'll take it.

_Mickey stares at her in horror._

**Mickey: **You can't.

**Rose: **I can.

**Mickey: **You don't need it.

**Rose: **That's how I prove it's safe!

**Mickey: **But... _(he indicates her stomach)_ what about the baby, huh?

**Rose: **It'll be all right. In the end. It's due in a week anyway. Mickey, we've got to do it. Make a stand. If I take it and come out all right, then they'll have to listen to us.

**Mickey:** But if you do... it won't be ours.

**Rose:** You were the one who said to try it!

**Mickey:** But not on us. We don't need it! You, me, your mum, we don't need it, the rest do!

**Rose:** And they won't take it. Unless I take it as well.

**Mickey:** No way, Rose Tyler. I won't let you!

**Rose:** You can't stop me.

_She strides out._

_**To be continued in 4:** The Shape of Things to Come_


	4. Chapter 4

_**BARREN EARTH**_

_**4:** The Shape of Things to Come_

_Ben awakes outside Rose's office. He gets up, looking around. He spots the gadget on the floor next to him and pick it up. He crosses to the lift and moves to press the control. It is a different display to the one a while ago. He looks back. The Torchwood logo is missing, as is the equipment._

**Ben: **Weird.

_He fumbles in his pocket and pulls out a mobile. He dials a number. Nothing._

**Ben: **Plenty of battery. Signal strength... nil?

_He heads back into the office and looks out. The city is different – a forest of sky scrapers._

**Ben: **The zeppelins... where are the zeppelins...?

_Shaking his head, he runs back to the lift and starts punching the control. Finally the lift opens and he runs into it. The lift doors close. A moment later, a familiar wheezing, groaning sound is heard. But nothing appears. Silence falls._

_Elsewhere, a screen lights up with a diagram. A light flashes. Two figures in simple uniform watch on. They both have white kinky hair, tanned skin and slanted eyes. They are the same height, and have the same mellow Irish accents._

**Geldon: **Someone is in the Memorial Shrine.

**Styan: **That's not possible. There has been no approach there all day. The Memorial Custodians would have spotted them before now.

**Geldon: **Nevertheless, it is fact. Alert them.

_An older woman approaches._

**Deeka:** When is the next census?

**Styan: **One hour seven seconds.

**Deeka:** Acceptable. Once the census is over, prepare the Termination Complex.

_On the ground floor of the tower, two such people in identical uniform and plumed helmets stand guard on the entrance. They both carry coiled staffs with flags carrying the double helix logo._

**PA: **Intruder in Memorial Shrine. Apprehend.

_The custodians nod and enter the foyer. They cross to the lift. In the corner behind the door hides Ben. He turns and sprints out of the building. The guards whirl to face him._

**Custodian 1: **Sacrilege! After him!

_The nearest custodian runs, jumps, rolls and straightens up – having got out of the building and right beside Ben. The two look at each other. The custodian is horrified and backs away. Ben turns and sprints down the street, turning around a corner and out of sight. The other custodian arrives._

**Custodian 1: **What happened? Why didn't you stop him?

**Custodian 2: **He was... a... hideous! The worst CHAV I've ever seen?

**Custodian 1: **_(aghast) _A CHAV got into the Memorial Shrine? We must not speak of this. Understand?

_The other custodian stares after Ben._

**Custodian 2: **So... monstrous...

**Custodian 1: **Do you understand?!

**Custodian 2: **Yes! Yes, I understand.

**Custodian 1: **You better. If that gets out, we will be declared imperfect. Understand?

_The custodian swallows and nods. The other one speaks to his wrist._

**Guard 1: **Memorial Shrine to Central City Control. Intruder on the loose. Pursue and capture?

**PA: **Description?

_The custodians exchange looks._

**Custodian 1: **Not available.

**PA: **... Very well. Maintain guard.

_The custodians sigh in relief and assume their former positions._

_Back in Torchwood Tower, Rose is with Griffin. They are in an operating theatre with several large vats of bubbling clear fluid in the side of the room. An angled bed is in the centre of the room._

**Griffin: **Director, are you sure? So close to the birth, it will be risky.

**Rose: **You can do it. The virus is designed to cover all gene types.

**Griffin: **I would recommend we... infect you after the birth. Your next child can...

**Rose: **That will take time. We need to start circulation at once, and I, or rather, my kid, will be the poster child. To prove we won't be creating monsters. Unless you can finally fix the virus? Can you?

_Griffin is silent._

**Rose: **Thought not. What do I have to do?

**Griffin: **It will take a while to get the equipment ready. In the meantime, you best relax, take a shower, get ready for surgery.

**Rose: **_(nods) _Thanks, Griff. I really do trust you, you know.

_Griffin nods and starts to walk off._

**Rose: **If this works, I might name him after you.

_Griffin smiles and walks off. Rose takes a deep breath and picks up a phone._

**Rose: **Commander Tollinger? Director Smith. Yeah. I want all access logs to be altered for the next forty-eight hours so one user is rendered inactive for that time. Yes. My husband. You heard. Do it.

_She puts down the phone. She is about to leave when Mickey enters._

**Mickey: **We have got to talk.

**Rose: **Sorry, Mickey. Need to use the loo.

**Mickey: **It can wait.

**Rose: **Trust me, it can't.

**Mickey: **I'm not letting this happen. You could die. You both could.

**Rose: **And think of everyone we'll save.

**Mickey: **Sorry, 'everyone' is a big number. I'll settle for you two. And I'm not letting you do this.

**Rose: **Mickey, fact one: my body. Fact two: my choice.

_She starts to move. Mickey grabs her wrist._

**Mickey: **Fact three: you have been known to do some extremely stupid things, especially when a police box is involved. Yeah, well, Doctor's gone now, but if he was here, he'd say the same thing.

**Rose: **And I'd react just the same.

_She gives him a patented Tyler slap, flinging him across the room and letting go of her._

**Rose: **I'll see you afterwards. And then you'll realize I was right all along.

_She leaves. Mickey rubs his face, painfully. He crosses to a phone._

**Mickey: **Hello? Jake. We have a problem. Get back here now.

_Elsewhere, Ben Chatham pauses as he sees the main street. There are no advertisements or motor vehicles. Peaceful music plays. More of the dark-skinned, white-haired people are wandering around, all with similar hair cuts and clothes, but the age ranges from babes in arms to pensioners. Ben shakes his head in disbelief._

**Ben: **What's going on here?

**PA: **Attention all humans. There will now be a census. Cooperation is compulsory.

_The people calmly arrange into queues. Black-clad guards with long, bazookoid-type weapons are marching up and down the queues. Ben turns back the way he came. Three guards with a leader in a visored helmet stand behind him._

**Leader: **Stay where you are.

**Guard: **Holy Mother, look at it...

**Leader: **Silence. We will continue our task. Identify yourself.

**Ben: **Oh, Ben. Benjamin Sebastian Chatham.

**Guard: **He is imperfect.

**Ben: **Imperfect? Me?!

**Leader: **Scan. Degree of imperfection?

_The guard raises a handheld many-pronged device and aims it at Ben. It buzzes._

**Guard: **_(shocked) _94.556 per cent! A real monster...

**Leader: **How old are you?

**Ben: **Mind your own business?

**Guard: **Minimum twenty-five years.

**Leader: **How did he manage to remain unprotected for so long?

**Ben: **No idea. What's going on here?

**Guard: **He must have been protected during development.

**Leader: **It is irrelevant. Take him away for genetic dismantling.

_The guards grab Ben's shoulders and haul his protesting form away._

_**To be continued in 5: **The Price of Perfection_


	5. Chapter 5

_**BARREN EARTH**_

_**5: **The Price of Perfection_

_Ben is carted into a monorail with tinted windows._

**Ben: **Let go of me, you stupid, grey-faced...

**Leader: **Resistance is useless.

**Ben: **Don't knock it until you've tried it.

**Guard: **Silence, CHAV.

**Ben: **What did you just call me?

**Guard:** _(raises weapon) _Silence!

_The leader and the guards follow. The monorail heads off._

_Outside Torchwood Tower, the custodians stand guard._

**PA: **An extremely mutated imperfect has been located. It is possible it was the intruder in the Memorial Shrine. Are there any other humans in the area?

**Custodian 2:** None. We are alone.

_On the top floor, there is the sound of the TARDIS taking off, but no sign of the source._

_Elsewhere, Jake and Mickey are in a guard room, talking._

**Jake: **She's the Director. The only person who can directly overrule her on internal affairs is her dad.

**Mickey: **Yeah, and he's still in Paris with Jackie and Angel. I can't get through to them.

**Jake: **Price of giving up ear pods.

**Mickey: **Jake, if you say that one more time...

**Jake: **Look, I trust Rose. She wouldn't put the baby at risk, no matter what.

**Mickey: **She's cracked in the head, Jake. I dunno, her hormones or something. You know, it's a year and a day since we went to Norway. She says, 'Oh, Mickey, I'm over it, get me some pickles and ice cream' but she's lying. I always know when she's lying.

**Jake: **What? When was the last time she lied?

**Mickey: **The last time she said she was happy here and didn't miss the Doctor.

**Jake: **Oh. Look, if I go against her without proof she's nuts, the People's Republic will...

**Mickey: **Say I forced you. Jake. Please. For me.

**Jake: **All right. Where is she?

**Mickey: **In the apartment, doing birth exercises or something.

**Jake: **Well, log in, so I can scan her.

_Mickey taps out at a terminal. TORCHWOOD: ACCESS DENIED appears._

**Mickey: **What?

**Jake: **You musta typed in wrong.

**Mickey: **I'm not an idiot! _(types) _They've frozen me out.

**Jake: **_(bleakly) _Only the Director has that authority.

**Mickey: **Oh, I am so gonna get her for this. Right, old fashioned plan.

**Jake: **What's that?

**Mickey: **Get me some flowers and chocolates.

_Elsewhere, Ben is held in front of a scanning machine._

**Leader: **CHAV, approximately twenty five plus years of age, imperfection at 94.556 per cent.

**PA: **You are registered termination code 9369. When this code is called you will move through the archway and genetic dismantling will take place. You will feel nothing... ever again.

**Ben: **Somehow, that isn't comforting.

_The troopers march him down a corridor to a black-lined door. It opens. Beyond is a chamber with five or six people, and a small group of toddlers in the corner. Ben is shoved in and the door is closed before he can regain his balance. Ben hurries over to the nearest prisoner, a woman named Krella._

**Ben: **Sorry, this might sound stupid, but is there a way out of here?

**Krella: **Holy Mother, what are you?

**Ben: **Impatient is what I am! Is there a way out of here?

**Krella: **Not alive, no. Your DNA is in the system now. Try and get out that door, you'll be atomized.

**Ben: **Same for you too, I bet.

**Krella: **Yup. At the right time, the systems are keyed so it's painless. That's when we go through.

**Ben: **They're going to kill us without a trial?

**Krella: **What sort of trial should there be. We're imperfect. You only have to look at yourself to know that you're guilty. Guilty twice more than everyone else in this room put together.

**Ben: **Guilty? Imperfect? What crap! I haven't done anything wrong?

**Krella: **Why would you have done anything wrong. You exist.

**Ben: **So, what's your crime?

**Krella: **Crime?

**Ben: **Why are you here?

**Krella: **Same reason as you, freak. We're CHAVs.

**Ben: **What?

**Krella: **Chromosomal Aberration Variants. Mutants. Imperfect. Where have you been? How did you survive this long without being caught by the Census Guards?

**Ben: **The rest here... they're just kids!

**Krella: **The newborn infants are in another section.

**Ben: **They're going to kill babies?!

**Krella: **They're lucky. They won't know anything... except peace. Still, can't win them all.

**Ben: **They're going to kill babies!!

**Krella: **Well, they're CHAVs, like us. Detected sooner rather than later.

**Ben: **And you're happy to let that happen?

**Krella: **What can I do? Even if we stopped it happening, what good would it do? They'd be inferior, prone to diseases and complexes, their children inferior. It's a law of diminishing returns. You know very little about the way society works, but then to look like that you'd have had to grow up in the dark.

**Ben: **Thanks a lot. How long did it take for them to get you?

**Krella: **Oh, it's a minor thing. Gene failure, thrown up during development from child to adult. Chances are, my children could be blind. And, well, what good can a blind human do for society? Nothing.

**Ben: **Surely, I mean, with this technology, you can't fix blindness?

**Krella: **Prevention is better than cure, isn't that right?

_In a luxury apartment, Rose emerges from an en suite bathroom in a silk dressing gown, drying her hair. She crosses to a framed photo of an ultrasound. She strokes it with her fingers and strokes her stomach._

**Rose: **It'll be all right in the end. I've got so much to show you. It'll be fantastic.

_There is a knock at the door. Rose hastily ties her dressing gown up._

**Rose: **Just a minute!

_Another knock._

**Rose: **Come in.

_The door opens. Mickey enters, arms behind his back._

**Mickey: **There's ma woman! Kit off!

**Rose: **_(grins)_ You used to say that to me every day.

**Mickey: **You used to be up for it every day.

**Rose: **Aw, come on, things have gotten a bit big for that...

_Mickey chuckles and reveals from behind his back a bunch of roses and a heart-shaped box of chocolates. Rose is delighted._

**Rose: **Wow! What you done wrong?

**Mickey: **Disagreed with the most beautiful woman in at least two universes?

_Rose pulls him into an embrace._

**Rose: **I knew you'd see sense.

**Mickey: **Hey, come on, I'm slow. Now, you wanna sit down and indulge yourself. I mean, next weekend, it'll just be all nappies and screaming, won't it? Let's take a last chance to cool off.

**Rose: **I've got to go for the operation. I'm all clean and everything.

**Mickey: **_(kisses her)_ You're the Director of Torchwood. You can do whatever you like.

**Rose: **I like. _(kisses him)_ I like a lot.

_Mickey leads her over to the couch, and opens the chocolate box._

**Mickey: **You can have first pick.

**Rose: **Oh, no, you.

**Mickey: **Go on.

**Rose: **Nah, honestly, I'm fat enough.

**Mickey: **_(slightly irritated) _Sure.

_Mickey takes a chocolate and munches it._

**Mickey: **You sure you don't want one?

**Rose: **Not really. I dunno if it's good for the baby... eating chocolate covered in retcon.

_Mickey's face falls._

**Rose: **Nice trick, Mickey. But I taught you most of them. It means a lot, though, that you'd eat one too. You hoping we'd both fall asleep together and wake up happy and safe. Nice.

_Mickey starts to look groggy._

**Mickey: **You cunning bitch.

**Rose: **It's why you love me. And once this is all over, and you hold your child, you'll know it was all for the best. I know what I'm doing.

**Mickey: **Please Rose... don't. For me.

**Rose: **Sorry, Mickey. But this time, everyone is gonna live.

_Mickey topples and collapses. Rose rises with difficulty._

**Rose: **Aw, my back... Scuse me, Mickey. Got a baby to recreate.

_She heads for the door as Mickey goes limp. As she leaves, his eyes open and he spits out the undamaged chocolate. He sits up, fully awake._

**Mickey:** This is gonna be harder than I thought.

_Back in the cell, Ben is pacing._

**Ben: **OK. I can just about understand this place is based on purity and perfection, I get that. But how can any of you be happy to be killed because of some problem with your genes that can't hurt anyone? How can you willingly come here to die?

**Krella: **We are imperfect. Why would we want to live in the world of perfection?

**Ben: **When did all this start?

**Krella: **Oh, the start of the last century, when the New Race started, of course.

**Ben: **New Race?

**Krella: **New Race... _(blinks) _you don't know about the New Race? The species without creed or colour, that out evolved the other humans on Earth? The gift to humanity from the Perfect Female? No...? Are you intellectually subnormal?

**Ben: **What are you on about? I've got a first from Cambridge!

**Krella: **What is Cambridge? In fact, what's a first?

**Ben: **A degree in archaeology. _(slowly) _I'm clever.

**Krella: **You're clever, are you? But you know nothing of history? You don't know about Roselyn Smith?

_Ben turns._

**Ben: **What about her?

**Krella: **She's only the mother of the perfect race! We'd all be imperfect savages without her giving birth to perfection, two century ago now. After all, without her and without us, her children, life would have died on Earth years ago, wouldn't it. You are dumb, aren't you?

**Ben: **Rose Smith... that gunk she was going to use... she's the cause of all of this!

**Krella: **Hallelujah. You would have loved being in religious assembly.

**PA: **Imperfect termination 9369. The time is now. Imperfect termination 9369. The time is now.

**Krella: **Pity you weren't. Around now, it's traditional to start praying.

_Ben looks at the hatch in horror as it starts to rise._

**Ben: **It's me. They want me.

**Krella: **I'm afraid so.

**PA: **Imperfect termination 9369. The time is now. Imperfect termination 9369. The time is now...

**_To be continued in 6:_ **_Escape to Danger_


	6. Chapter 6

_**BARREN EARTH**_

**_6:_ **_Escape to Danger_

_Ben calmly approaches the hatch. Beyond is whiteness._

**Krella: **Don't despair, CHAV. The Holy Mother embraces all her offspring. You'll face perfection in the final realm. Hey, if we didn't believe that, this whole society would be insane!

_Krella chuckles. Ben shakes the gadget in his hand. Nothing._

**Ben: **Oh, God... this is it. This is real.

_He steps forward into the hatch. It closes after him. Krella sighs._

**Krella: **Nice mind, but what a body...

_She shudders._

_Ben opens his eyes. He is standing in a circular room with a vaulted ceiling. Standing at a narrow, triangular console is a man with short hair, big ears and a leather jacket. At his touch, the doors behind Ben close and the cylinder in the middle of the console starts to rise and fall. The man turns to face Ben and beams._

**Observer: **Ah! Speak of the Devil!

_He snatches the gadget off Ben and peers at it, then glares at Ben._

**Observer: **Have you been messing about with this?

_Elsewhere, Mickey is pacing while Jake taps at the computer._

**Jake: **Well, it seems you're only locked out for the next day.

**Mickey: **Giving her plenty of time to pump that muck in her belly.

**Jake: **Come on, Mickey. You know Rose. If there was any danger to the baby, a squad of Cybermen couldn't get her on that operating table.

**Mickey: **No, no, Jake, she THINKS there isn't any danger. Big difference.

**Jake: **You showed me the test results.

**Mickey: **For intertile cell structures! Not fertile ones! Not eight and a half months pregnant ones from a different universe on the far side of the Void ones! It's not safe.

**Jake: **So... why hasn't she tested it.

**Mickey: **She is, she's doing it to herself! Cause all the computers say unless we start now, humanity will be lucky to see out the decade, let alone the century. Now, that baby is 50 per cent mine, and I say 'no'.

**Jake: **You're sure?

**Mickey: **What?

**Jake: **That it's yours.

_Mickey silently approaches Jake._

**Mickey: **Are you saying what I think you're saying, Jakey boy?

**Jake: **I mean, all I'm sayin is - you counted the heart beats?

**Mickey: **What?

**Jake: **_(lowers eyes)_ Griffin got wasted at Christmas. Says that, during the ultra sound, she made damn sure he counted how many hearts he could here. He said there were two.

_Mickey is silent._

_The man in the leather jacket is wiring up the gadget to the console._

**Observer: **This is an Ameralian teleporter. Musta got soaked in artron energy before it arrived on Earth. The Ameralians use it to jump from place to place, using their mental energy. You musta been terrified when you used it, and instead of jumping through space, through time.

**Ben: **I wasn't terrified!

**Observer: **Well, you don't look like you were the happiest you'd ever been and I doubt anythin else coulda set this off. But somehow, you've pushed time entirely out of shape. You jumped into the future and pushed that future so off the beaten track, they sent me, muggins here, to sort it out. I'm a bit of an expert when it comes to humans.

**Ben: **And who are you?

**Observer: **Just an observer. Passin through. So, tell me... What scared you death?

**Ben: **You ever hear of Rose Smith?

**Observer: **Nope.

**Ben: **Torchwood?

**Observer: **Never heard of it. Is it an acronym?

**Ben: **No... look. You're an alien, right?

**Observer: **The rightest alien you'll ever meet, Bert.

**Ben: **Ben.

**Observer: **Ben. Whatever.

**Ben: **Look, it's a long story.

**Observer: **The best to tell. _(works at the console for a few moments)_ Well? Go on.

_Mickey and Jake are now inches apart._

**Mickey: **You think that the Doctor is the father? Is that it?

**Jake: **I dunno. Griffin was wasted, like I said. He was telling a story, he passed out before the end of it... But you said the Doctor had two hearts.

**Mickey: **Oh yeah, Jake, I did. And I also said, Rose is eight and a half months gone. And when did we last see the Doctor? A year ago. A year and a day. And he was a hologram at the time. Last time we saw him in the flesh, it was fifteen months ago.

**Jake: **Maybe Time Babies take longer than nine months.

**Mickey: **Are you looking for a bruise, Jake?

**Jake: **_(grins) _More a snog.

_Mickey laughs, despite everything._

**Mickey: **Man, time and a place. Time and a place. _(sobers) _We've gotta stop Rose.

**Jake: **Yeah. Trouble is, she's our boss. She's higher up, smarter, clever, cuter, she's got this entire institute on her side and she knows we're onto her. Plus, she's really worked on the bambi eyes lately, so no one's gonna go against her.

**Mickey: **Plus she learned all the tricks from the most dangerous bloke in both universes.

**Jake: **So, we're basically screwed.

**Mickey: **Oh no. I was with the Doctor too, you know.

**Jake: **And he gave you a trick did he?

**Mickey: **Yeah. It's called diagonal thinking.

**Jake: **You mean 'lateral'?

**Mickey: **Nah, this is way more extreme than just lateral.

_The Observer is pacing around the console._

**Observer: **Things like this never go well. You always go at your own pace, you do not, ever, steal alien technology and reverse engineer it. It never works. Unforeseen side effects, long term social mutation, cats and dogs living together, this is bad on so many levels.

**Ben: **She says it's the only way to save mankind.

**Observer: **Oh, come on, Barry, how many dictators use that as their excuse? On the other hand, she's clever. She must be clever. I mean, to succeed, even in a parallel timeline... Does she strike you as the sort that would purge genetically impure humans?

**Ben: **No. Her husband's black.

**Observer: **_(chuckles) _Honestly, you lot. So superficial. But that's a good sign. If this future isn't what she wanted, then that means something went wrong. Really wrong. Something linked to you being taken out of time. Now, what's so special about you?

**Ben: **Uh. I've got a first from Cambridge.

**Observer: **And?

**Ben: **That's it, pretty much.

**Observer: **What's your name?

**Ben: **Ben Chatham.

**Observer: **Never heard of you before. And I've heard of everyone. You're not famous, you're not on the radar, so why are you so important? _(blinks) _Cosmically speaking, I mean, everyone's important. Just cause a wandering Time Lord hasn't heard of you don't mean you've wasted your life, I'm just talking in temporal terms. No offence, yeah? Thought not. OK, Baxter, time to subdivide our forces. First thing first, return you to your customary time and place. You say Smith wanted you to be the first to be made fertile?

**Ben: **It's what she said.

_He starts operating controls._

**Observer: **And you believe her, so as long as you aren't injected, that history cannot happen. There you go, Blake, you are important! Bless!

_In the operating theatre, Rose is wearing a gown, sitting on the bench. A nurse has taken her blood pressure. Griffin is attaching cables to her shoulder, chest, leg and forehead._

**Griffin: **Your blood pressure is higher than I'd like, Director...

**Rose: **It's been kicking a lot and it's a hard day. Go on.

**Griffin: **All right. Just lie back.

_Rose does so, putting her legs into the styrrups. Griffin is still undecided._

**Rose: **Look, if you don't wanna do this, you don't have to be the staff gynaecologist. Do it.

**Griffin: **Yes, Director.

_The nurse lifts a circle of the gown covering Rose's engorged stomach._

**Griffin: **The chemical has been treated as you requested. It will take five minutes to complete the process, and then your... child will be complete.

_Rose smiles._

**Rose: **Fantastic.

_**To be continued in 7:** Crisis Point_


	7. Chapter 7

_**BARREN EARTH**_

_**7:** Crisis Point_

_Just as Griffin is about to inject Rose, a sharp two-tone alert starts squawking in the background._

**Griffin: **What the hell's going on?

**Rose: **Perimeter compromised! _(struggles to sit up)_ Link us up to security section.

**PA: **Torchwood compromised. Lockdown in effect.

**Rose: **No, wait! Griffin, get the security...

**PA: **Lockdown in effect.

_Suddenly, all the computer screens turn to static and shut down. The lights go out and are replaced with dim green emergency lighting. Rose sighs._

**Rose: **OK. Change of plan. Gimme my clothes, somebody. We've got problems.

_Lower in Torchwood Tower, Mickey and Jake stand beside a vandalized junction box._

**Jake: **So, "diagonal thinking" means "smash everything" does it?

**Mickey: **Never fails. Like the Doc said, "when in doubt, everything out".

_They high five._

**Mickey: **Come on, let's get back to work.

**Jake: **What if he managed to treat Rose before lockdown?

**Mickey: **He won't have.

**Jake: **Why?

**Mickey: **_(firmly) _Because she has to be all right. She HAS to be.

_In Rose's office, Ben is still frozen in time. There is a wheezing groan, and then the Observer and Ben emerge from thin air._

**Observer: **... D - I - S. Stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space, as sort of machine that travels through time. And space, but that's not half as impressive. Course, the old ones turned into everyday objects as a disguise, but these new ones were invisible. My old one, well, I say it was mine, got stuck as - hold up.

**Ben: **What the...?

_The Observer scans the frozen Ben with a handheld tool._

**Observer: **Well, well, Balazar, seems I was wrong. You do have some kind of destiny, here and now, today. But when that activated, you were unable to do it, that's why when you went into the future, that future was so different. _(pockets tool)_ So, go on, what were your plans for today? Inventing something? Marrying someone? Write a book?

**Ben: **Well, I was going to finish up at the dig and then...

**Observer: **You're an archaeologist?

**Ben: **Amateur.

**Observer: **Yeah, with those hands, it's easy to tell. No, not some fad...

**Ben: **It's not a fad...

**Observer: **In the big picture, everything is a fad. No... maybe you're not important as yourself, but what you do this Director Smith. What's she like?

**Ben: **Like?

_The Observer starts shuffling through the desk._

**Observer: **Simple question. What do we have here? Notepaper, a copy of Hello, memos, memos, a cartoon drawing of a police box? Fancy that, haven't seen one of those in ages, a diary... _(pockets that) _might come in handy.

**Ben: **Hey, you can't...

**Observer: **A mobile phone that isn't working, with what looks like... Gallifreyan technology installed into the sim card. Definitely wrong. _(pockets it) _Oh, and a framed photo. More than one.

_He pulls out a handfull of photos in frames._

**Observer: **Rose Smith. She's beautiful. For a human. Don't tell me. That's her, that's her husband, her parents, maybe? Bit old to be having kids, aren't they? Some prat in a brown coat, what is he thinking with that hair? And Miss Smith...

_He trails off. He hands Ben the photo._

**Observer: **Care to explain that?

**Ben: **It's you.

**Observer: **Yeah. It's me. With Rose Smith at Brighton Peer and I am wearing a Kiss Me Quick hat. When I've never met Rose Smith before, and I avoid Brighton after the nineteenth century.

**Ben: **Wierd.

**Observer: **Yeah, sums up the situation.

_Rose enters the main floor. A large crowd of troops and workers are present. She awkwardly finishes tugging down her shirt. Jake and Mickey are the near the front._

**Rose: **Some of us were busy with doctors and nurses, all right?

**Mickey: **Did you go through with it then?

**Rose: **No, you can be happy. So, what's the situation?

**Jake: **Sabotage on level 4, someone who knew what they were doing. It's triggered a chain reaction, we're in lockdown indefinitely. Nothing gets in and out.

**Rose: **Lockdown are on a timer unless I say so.

**Mickey: **Not this time, sweetheart. Damage is too bad.

**Rose: **What, you're saying we're all trapped in here?

**Jake: **There's the link up to the Thames floodstation base, that's still clear. We'd be able to get out, but not back in.

**Mickey: **All or nothing.

**Rose: **And no one can get in here.

**Mickey: **That's what's designed to. All windows, doors, everything sealed off.

**Jake: **We'll start to suffocate soon. We'll have to evacuate.

**Rose: **What? Abandon all this? This is humanity's last hope!

**Jake: **It's not like we can carry any of this stuff. It's either stay here and die, or leave.

**Rose: **Leave and die!

**Mickey: **Everything dies, Rose. We gotta learn to deal with that.

**Rose: **No, we are staying here.

**Mickey: **Come on, babe. What would the Doctor do, huh?

_Rose advances on him._

**Rose: **Well, considering you're the one who was telling me to forget about him for the last year, that's an odd question. But I tell you what he'd do. He'd find out what went wrong, WHO betrayed all of Torchwood and then he'd made them fix it.

**Mickey: **Don't look at me, babe, I was with Jake.

_Jake nods._

**Rose: **And how do I know he's not in on it?

**Jake: **In on what?

_The rest of staff are now staring at Rose._

**Mickey: **Sweetheart, Jake was here since the beginning. So was I. I think, carrying a baby around twenty four seven isn't doing your head any good. OK? Now, as second in command of the Torchwood Institute...

**Rose: **Oh, no you don't...

**Mickey: **With the power invested in me by President Harriet Jones of the Republic of Great Britain, I hereby assume all executive control of the complex.

_Rose moves to grab him, but Jake stops her._

**Jake: **What's the problem, Rose. You're going on maternity leave next week, weren't you?

_Rose continues to glare at Mickey._

**Rose: **I underestimated you, Mickey.

**Mickey: **You don't do anything else, sweetheart. As my first order of business, the Regeneration project is closed. Now that's done, I want a head count. Once we know everyone's here, I want you to gather torches, food supplies, as much water as we can get, and then we are evacuating. The auxiliary computers in Number 10 will have absorbed all out data, so basically, this place is just a junk shop now. So, move it!

_The group starts to break up._

**Rose: **Do you even know what you're doing, Mickey? You'll kill us all.

_Mickey looks at her._

**Mickey: **How many times do I have to come back for you before you wake up, Rose. I love you. And the baby. And, maybe, just maybe, you're not right this time. Even the Doctor admitted that.

**Rose: **But I am right!

**Mickey: **Time will tell, sweetheart. Time will tell.

_The Observer sits in Rose's chair, feet on her desk, studying the picture. Ben is pacing, casting looks at his frozen doppleganger._

**Ben: **But what's happened? All the lights are off, I can't get a signal...

**Observer: **Lockdown. And keep away from that frozen you.

**Ben: **Or what?

**Observer: **'Zap'.

**Ben: **'Zap'?

**Observer: **'Zap'. It's the technical term for it. You know, I don't think this photo is of me. You can tell by the eyes. It's not me. It looks like me - same, devilishly handsome good looks, face full of clavicles, but it isn't. So, it's either some clone or genetic duplicate, or else...

_Rose, Mickey and Jake enter the room._

**Observer: **Oh. _(waves) _Hello?

_Rose and Mickey boggle as Jake draws his gun._

**Jake: **And who the hell are you?

**Rose: **_(sounds lost) _Doctor?

_**To be continued in 8:** Into the Abyss_


	8. Chapter 8

_**BARREN EARTH**_

_**8:** Into the Abyss_

_The Observer stares at Rose._

**Observer: **Yeah. I haven't been called that in a while. Yeah, I'm the Doctor.

**Jake: **You look nothing like him.

_Rose bashes Jake's gun away, furious._

**Rose: **What does that matter?! _(to Observer)_ You came for us. You came back.

**Mickey:** No.

**Rose: **Shut it, Mickey.

**Mickey: **It's not him. Remember? He can't come back. This is the Doctor of this universe.

**Observer: **Such big talk. So, you two from another universe then? Fantastic! How's it done? I've always wanted to visit the universe where there was no shrimp! Imagine that! (rises) I'm the... well, the Doctor, but you can call me Observer if it's a bit confusing. I suppose I don't need to tell you lot I am a Time Lord from a planet called Gallifrey and when it comes to unusual, time distorting chaos like our friend Bunny over there, I know where of I speak?

**Rose: **_(sighs) _Not the Doctor.

**Observer: **But I'm sure I'll do in the meantime. Say, why don't you sit down, take that awesome weight off your feet. We have lots of stuff to discuss.

_In Central Control, Deeka approaches a swivel throne. On this sits a well-dressed woman in robes, called Badwolf._

**Deeka: **The mutant was not terminated, Badwolf. We don't know what happened to it?

**Badwolf: **A creature like this suggests that the census is not truly affective.

**Deeka: **The census is working, Badwolf. The most we have detected until today was 0.0003 per cent imperfection. Our society is well within limits.

**Badwolf: **Where there is one creature, there will be more. The scriptures and the Holy Mother was very clear on this topic. Only perfection is allowed. Unless the creature is found by tonight, the Judgement of Humanity will take place.

_Deeka looks horrified._

**Deeka: **You might kill millions.

**Badwolf: **Why not? They should already be dead in the termination centre. We must survive, Deeka. And survive as perfection - nothing less.

_Elsewhere, everyone is listening to the Observer tell his tale._

**Observer: **...so I traced the signal and materialized just as Bell here was walking to his doom.

**Ben: **One of my luckier escapes.

**Jake: **Right. So... Mr Chatham here has pushed history off course and created a nightmare future, and we have to change it back now?

**Observer: **While the original one is frozen in time, time is unfrozen, if you get my drift.

**Rose: **In flux. It can be rewritten.

**Observer: **_(surprised) _Yeah. Exactly. And the Time Lords, gosh they hate that so much. In fact, a while ago, there was a talk of this multiverse conflict... _(sees their expressions) _Sorry. Don't get a chance to talk much nowadays. So, anyway, I think Bartolemew over here has established that your project to rewrite human DNA is pretty much a bad one.

**Mickey: **Don't worry, Doc, I just canceled it.

**Ben: **I thought _she_ was in charge.

**Mickey: **_(grins) _Business restructure.

**Rose: **Oh, you are so sleeping on the couch tonight.

**Mickey: **Not enough room in the bed, anyway.

**Rose: **Oi! _(smacks his arm)_ Look... friend. I'm not after conquering the world. I'm happy with it the way it is, but it's not gonna stay that way. People are sick, babies aren't being born. I put this off for so long. But if Pete Tyler's daughter takes it and her baby is fine, people will listen.

**Ben: **Will they? And is it worth the price?

**Rose: **What price?

**Ben: **There are people being killed, Mrs Smith! Being dragged into cells and slaughtered because their genes aren't perfect! And that's because of what you're going to do!

**Rose: **I don't want that! I'll stop it, I'll write a bible or something...

**Observer: **A book can be altered. Misinterpreted.

**Rose: **I can change it! It won't be like that... and I don't know if it IS like that! You're not the real Doctor, and this idiot _(points to Ben) _is so thick he doesn't realize that most of his campus hate his guts! Yeah, checked out the files at Cambridge. There are social diseases more popular than you! So why should I endanger the whole human race for what you say?

_The Observer shrugs and shows her the photo of the Doctor._

**Observer: **I dunno what he was like. But if he was like me, he wouldn't lie about this.

_Rose closes her eyes, as if in pain. After a moment she speaks._

**Rose: **My sister is called Angel. She is going to grow up in a world where the only other kids are mine. She's going to grow up in a world of old people, sick people, and no hope. _(opens eyes)_ You think I'm going to let that happen?

**Ben: **Put your money where your mouth is then.

**Rose: **What?

**Ben: **Come on, Observer. Let's take a trip to the future. She if she's happy with what she's done!

**Jake: **No way, she's too delicate to go.

**Observer: **My TARDIS, very smooth, Commander. Come on. This is a once in a lifetime, never to be repeated look into alternative time. Guaranteed that no matter what we see, we can annul it. My people have destroyed whole solar systems for less.

_The Observer rises._

**Observer: **Ready?

_He strides towards the wall and vanishes. Ben follows. The others exchange looks._

**Mickey: **You up for this?

**Rose: **I'm right Mickey. And this will just prove it.

**Mickey: **All right. And if I'm right?

**Rose: **Then I'm going to be very scared.

_She's not joking. They quietly walk forwards and vanish as well._

_Jake is looking quietly freaked. Rose and Mickey wander around. The Observer works at the console. The time rotor starts moving._

**Mickey: **Nice. I like it. Better than the other Doctor's.

**Observer: **Well, this is a new model. Company car, you might call it. No soul, not like my old one. There we go. London, two hundred years in a future based on Rose pumping her child full of second hand alien gene bleach.

_He turns to face the hexagonal scanner screen, which displays an image of the city, of the people in it and finally a huge statue we cannot see clearly._

**Rose: **All those people...

**Ben: **All? There's less people then there are now. And there are fewer all the time.

**Observer: **Every few hours, the people are subjected to a census. Anyone failing is taken away and atomized. Ironic, but they're facing extinction as well. They're not sterile, but they're cleansing themselves faster than they can replace their numbers.

**Mickey: **I don't get it. I mean, if they're all one kind of people, what's the problem?

**Rose: **Yeah. The chemical makes one type only.

**Ben: **Obviously then it doesn't work.

**Rose: **It does work!

**Observer: **Maybe some kind of later mutation in the cells? Getting worse all the time. Of course, instead of evolving, they just cull their own numbers.

**Rose: **I'll stop this, I'll flood the internet with messages of what not to do.

**Ben: **What's to say you already didn't?

**Rose: **Look, they're human, they survived! They're out there now, building things, falling in love, doing what human beings do! It's what I wanted! OK, some nutters got a bee in their bonnet about genetic purity, I'll just make sure that...

**Observer: **Aye aye. Look at this.

_The scanner zooms out to show a huge statue of Rose, cradling a toddler. Its base is marked ROSLYN SMITH - PERFECT FEMALE - HOLY MOTHER._

**Mickey: **Yeah. Made a big impression, eh, sweetheart?

**Observer: **Good likeness. You've become a goddess, Rose Smith.

**Rose: **Not the first time.

**Observer: **Well then, I don't know about you, but I think it's time for the second coming!

_He operates more controls. The scanner zooms in on the statue head._

_In a grand temple, a silver cylinder fills the centre of the room. Badwolf kneels in prayer before the cylinder. Other acolytes are present._

**Badwolf: **Oh Holy Mother, who saw the light of truth and made it burn like the sun in the hearts of all her children, I beg of you to share the knowledge with me. The good are threatened, the hope is lost, and the evil refuse to be vanquished. I beg of you to return and give me guidance.

_She places her hands on the floor before the cylinder. A low whirr fills the air, followed by a wheezing groaning sound. The Observer appears._

**Observer: **Evening, all. 

_There are shouts and cries. Badwolf whirls to face him._

**Badwolf: **You... creature, how dare you profane the inner sanctum?

**Observer: **Please, please, no disrespect meant. And I'm not imperfect, I'm not even human. Not remotely. Well, once, but never again. I'm here as a visitor from my world, and I bring you a gift you could never dream of in a millennia of Sundays.

**Badwolf: **What is this... gift?

**Observer: **I've brought you your Holy Mother. Say hello to Rose Smith.

_Rose appears beside him, followed by the others. All bar Badwolf fall to their knees._

**Acolytes: **It is her. It is her. It is her.

**Badwolf: **You are false. That is not the Holy Mother.

**Rose: **I am too. Statue not big enough for you to recognize!

**Badwolf: **You are not the Holy Mother!

**Observer: **She is. I am a Time Lord, and I have brought her through time to speak with you.

**Badwolf: **I have no need of this. I commune with the Holy Mother herself. I am Badwolf!

_Rose rubs her eyes and shakes her head._

**Rose: **Bad wolf? I don't believe it...

**Mickey: **Seriously, is there an anecdote for that? Were you mauled as a baby or something?

**Rose: **Shut it, Mickey. Look, I am Roslyn Marion Tyler-nee-Smith. I dare say you can check my DNA and if you don't know what the real one is, then you're not much of a cult...

**Badwolf: **I need nothing. I know Rose Smith.

**Ben: **How? She must be dead by now.

**Rose: **Thanks a lot.

**Ben: **Come on, Mrs Smith, two hundred years, it's not surprising, is it?

**Badwolf: **She lives.

_The cylinder opens._

**Badwolf: **She rests the rest of the just as the world keeps turning on the slow path. Imposters, behold the true holy mother!

_Smoke inside the cylinder clears to show a blonde woman in a white robe. Jake, Mickey and Rose look on in horror. The Observer narrows his eyes._

**Observer: **The true Holy Mother?

**Jake: **_(shocked) _Jackie!

**Mickey: **_(even more shocked) _Jackie?

**Rose: **_(totally shocked)_ Mum?

_**To be continued in 9:** Harsh Truths_


	9. Chapter 9

_**BARREN EARTH**_

_**9:** Harsh Truths_

_The woman opens her eyes. A blur in front of them resolves into the Observer's face._

**Woman: **(weakly) Doctor?

**Observer: **Sorry. Not the one you're thinking of.

_Regaining some strength, she steps out of the cylinder. She stumbles. The Observer catches her and supports her. Rose and Mickey move closer._

**Observer: **No, no, you two keep back. Keep very back.

**Rose: **Why? It's my mum!

_The woman giggles._

**Woman: **You know what they say about teenage girls, Mickey? Always look at the mum in law. Cause that's what they'll turn into.

**Mickey:** You what?

**Rose: **It's me. You're... you're me. In the future.

**Woman: **Yep. Good thing you had the Doctor, otherwise it'd get confusing.

**Observer: **Er, I'm not the Doctor. At least, not yours.

**Woman: **It's all right, sweetheart. Not your fault.

**Ben: **What's not his fault?

**Woman: **All this. This is perfection, Rose. God, how wierd does that sound? "Rose"! Hah, I'm talking to myself and still not making sense.

**Mickey:** What happened? To Earth?

**Woman: **Well, unless Badwolf's been lying to me...

**Badwolf: **I haven't Holy Mother.

**Woman: **I know, love. I know. Anyway, Earth should be in good nick. Atmosphere's cleaned up, lots of fish in the sea, rainforest growing back. What we all wanted?

**Ben: **Did you ask the rest of us that?

**Woman: **Who are you?

**Ben: **You don't know?

**Woman: **I don't remember this meeting, um, me. Rose. Whatever. So, I guess our Time Lord here has changed history. Naughty boy, Doctor. You better put it back on track before those things turn up.

**Jake: **Things? What things?

**Rose: **Nah, that's not going to happen. Now, what happened? Why are you here? Where are the others?

**Woman: **They're dead, aren't they? I mean, two hundred years. It is that, isn't it? _(The Observer nods) _Yeah, two hundred years. _(to Rose) _Gosh, look at you. You look fit to explode. How far gone are you?

**Rose: **Thirty nine weeks.

**Woman: **Oh. You told Mickey yet?

**Mickey:** Told me what?

**Woman: **She's been having contractions the last few days.

**Mickey:** What?

**Jake: **No wonder she thinking straight.

**Rose: **Oi! Look, I can cope, all right. They're all natural. I'm not about to give birth or anything?

**Woman: **Not yet. Have you had the treatment yet?

**Mickey:** No. _(uncertain) _Rose?

**Rose: **No. Not yet.

_The older Rose suddenly looks annoyed for the first time._

**Woman: **Then you've got to. Doctor... Alternate Doctor, whatever you're called, get her back there now and give her the process. It's part of history.

**Observer: **This history is wrong.

**Woman: **Oh no, Doctor. This history is perfect. And I know you can't make it a 100 the same, but you can get damn close. Now do it.

**Ben: **Why? What's going to happen?

**Woman: **The beginning of a new age, pretty boy. A new age. Peace. Prosperity. Great advancement. The new baby boomers. Children being born across the world, all the same. No one will pick on them, or treat them different. They know each other's minds. Kinda like telepathy. Or empathy. I forget which.

**Mickey:** Great, first _Children of Man_, now the _Village of the Damned_!

**Observer: **You mean _The Midwich Cuckoos_.

**Mickey:** I don't care what I mean. Look, lady, it's not gonna happen. You're not Rose.

**Woman: **I am.

**Observer: **Fraid she is.

**Rose: **Keep out of it, you. How do I know you're me?

**Woman: **Well, what do you want me to say? I was with the Doctor when we visited Mars and met those reflections. I saw our old cat try to conquer the world. I played Death to the Mantodeans with a Nothern accent, Rose the Mantodean Slayer! I was there at Bad Wolf Bay, the last time we saw the Doctor. I was at the hotel that night...

**Mickey:** Shut up.

**Woman: **I went to bed early. Didn't notice I had that bottle of dad's whiskey...

**Mickey:** OK, I believe you...

**Woman: **...and then mum stopped taking those sleeping pills cause of carrying Angel. No one noticed me pinching them either. And you'd not begrude me a little lie in. After the day I'd had.

**Mickey:** I believe you. Now shut up!

**Woman: **No. It's got to be said.

**Observer: **_(disbelieving)_You tried to kill yourself? Because of this other me? Rose, what the hell did he do to you?

**Mickey:** I went in to check on her. Managed to drag her to shower, get her to throw up the stuff.

**Rose: **Ruined your shirt.

**Mickey:** Who cares about the shirt?

**Woman: **You did.

**Mickey:** I care more about Rose.

**Woman: **You see? My point exactly. And you know why you tried to end it all, Rose?

**Rose: **I wasn't going to see the Doctor again.

**Observer: **It's not worth it, Rose. It's never worth throwing your life away.

**Rose: **I know that now!

**Woman: **No, that's not it. On the beach, you said you loved him. And he was about to say something when he disappeared.

**Mickey:** That he loved her.

**Woman: **No. You see, that's what I worked out. The Doctor, the real Doctor, didn't love you. Me. Us. That's why he switched off. Right in our faces. Just hung up.

**Rose: **That isn't what happened!

**Woman: **Isn't it? Oh, he liked us, I know that. He really did. But he didn't love us. All that time, he was saving our lives, not for us, not even for mum. For himself. To prove he still had the moves. Didn't you notice how often he tried to get rid of us. First thing he did after he changed was trying to chuck us out. You think if he'd got Reniette the French whore, we'd have lasted long. He ditched us, Rose. All the clues were there. And when you twigged, you tried to end it all.

_Rose starts to cry._

**Woman: **No point asking mum or dad or Mickey. The Doctor could lie through his teeth and no one would notice. If he fooled you, he fooled them. And that's the truth.

**Rose: **It isn't! We loved each other! _(uncertain)_ Didn't we?

**Observer: **Look, seriously, I know this is awkward, but I'm not able to help in this.

**Woman: **Course not, Doctor. I'm not blaming you. The fact is, I don't need you. That's the thing, Rose. You get addicted. Like Sarah Jane. But I've lived long enough to get him out of my system. And that's why I did this. That's why you started it.

**Rose: **It's to save humanity!

**Woman: **What is humanity? Cells? DNA? Language?

**Ben: **Very interesting. But what happened? What happens once Rose takes the drug?

**Woman: **Other people take it. A new race appears over the next few years. Fertile, loving, powerful. Made the rest of us redundant. They all worshipped me. Dunno why, I never asked for it. But when I was the first, somehow, every baby born after that knew about me. Loved me. They were so grateful to live. Cause, the parents got upset. There was a war.

**Observer: **A war?

**Woman: **The new humans won, of course. And we had termination chambers. No one suffered. Not even you Mickey. _(silence) _I begged them not to take you. Or mum. Or dad. Or Angel. But they all went. And I went to sleep. Badwolf here, sorry, couldn't resist the name, well her great grandmother promised to keep me alive.

**Jake:** You wiped out humanity.

**Woman: **Not me. But my children saved it. You see, the chemical didn't work. They were born all right, but they didn't stay that right. They were starting to get sick, and weak. The old humans were holding them back. They only did it to survive.

**Rose: **And you let them?!

**Woman: **I tried to stop them. But I was wrong. I've been asleep longer than I've been alive. I ran out of dreams, started to relive my whole life. Saw the truth.

**Mickey: **You've been brainwashed!

**Woman: **Aw, and I saw how I treated you, Mickey. No, I wouldn't change this world for anything, but if I could have just made you happy. You deserve to know the truth.

**Mickey: **What truth?

**Woman: **Why I was so nasty to you.

**Mickey: **You weren't...

**Woman: **I was. And it's the same reason Rose is going to use that chemical. No matter what any of you say, or what she says, she has to use it. No matter what. You've got it with you, don't you?

**Mickey: **Rose?

_She sadly delves under her shirt and pulls out the hypogun._

**Rose: **Who notices another bump, eh?

**Mickey: **Rose. Give that, no, no, HAND that to me. Carefully.

**Woman: **Take it Rose. Make this real.

**Rose: **No.

**Woman: **I'll tell him.

**Rose: **Tell him what?

**Woman: **The truth.

**Rose: **I don't know what you're on about!

**Woman: **Don't you? Well then, how about this. Either you take it, and save this future, or my acolytes will use particle guns on everyone except you. Sorry, Mickey. But this is too important.

_The cloaked figures raise chunky rifles. Ben raises his hand. Jake draws his gun. Mickey holds onto Rose. The Observer folds his arms._

**Observer: **_(unimpressed) _That sort of blackmail won't work, you see.

**Woman: **My Doctor... _(sighs) _Kill them.

_The acolytes open fire._

_**To be continued in 10:** Last Chances_


	10. Chapter 10

_**BARREN EARTH**_

_**10:** Last Chances_

_The acolytes empty their weapons. The blasts strike everyone except Rose, but none of the others are harmed. The Observer beams. The acolytes stop firing._

**Badwolf: **The guns are exhausted, Holy Mother.

**Woman: **It's all right, Badwolf. All right, Doctor. I'll bite. How?

**Observer: **I don't know much about this other me. He had a TARDIS, yeah? Beaten up blue police box? If so, I bet the state of grace circuitry didn't work right. My ship is a newer model, and as such, we are all inside it and, as such, don't technically exist. Therefore, we cannot harm each other. And, if Rose does inject herself, nothing will happen.

**Woman: **...until she leaves the TARDIS.

**Rose: **I'm not going to do it. Not at all.

**Woman: **You must.

**Ben: **Why? This is insanity!

**Woman: **I have saved the Earth and its people! Who are you to tell me that I'm insane!?

**Observer: **Well, as a strictly neutral...

_She smacks him. The Observer shrugs._

**Observer: **Ah. Temper wearing a bit thin?

**Woman: **You not the Doctor. And even if you were, this isn't your concern!

**Observer: **It's everyone's concern, Miss Smith, and I am in a position to help. Now, I admit, I'm rusty. My people take a dim view of this and imprisoned me for it. Only just got on parole and here I am. The only question is, are you worth risking my freedom for?

**Woman: **If you were my Doctor, you wouldn't care. If you had cared, you wouldn't have let me end up here!

**Rose: **He didn't have a choice!

**Woman: **Oh, right! I just HAPPENED to get the faulty lever and he just HAPPENED to get the right one!

**Mickey: **If he didn't care, why say goodbye?

**Woman: **Guilty conscience. But you've only got his word that he couldn't come back.

**Rose: **You're insane! You're paranoid! No, I loved the Doctor and the Doctor loved me.

**Woman: **What do you know? You're just a stupid kid, full of hormones and angst! I've outstripped you, like Homo Sapiens with the Neanderthals. Yeah, remember them, eh?

**Ben: **If you're so superior, prove it.

**Woman: **How?

**Ben: **Ah... Over to you Observer?

**Observer: **Thanks a lot, Balowksi. All right, Miss Tylers. Young Rose here was brave enough to see her future. Are you brave enough to see yours?

**Woman: **I don't need to...

**Ben: **That's not the question! Are you?

**Woman: **I don't need to. Badwolf, get that girl and inject the solution just under her belly button.

**Badwolf: **Yes, Holy Mother.

**Mickey: **Not in this lifetime!

_Mickey decks her, the physical force hurling Badwolf across the room. Jake and Ben take on the other acolytes. The Observer grabs the old Rose as she heads for her younger self._

**Observer: **Sorry, big problems with this. You touch her, you touch yourself, bad things'll happen.

**Woman: **_(laughs) _What? I'll go blind?

**Observer: **And that's just the start! Now, excuse me!

_He snaps his fingers._

_Suddenly, they are standing alone in a grass field._

**Observer: **My TARDIS, apart from being able to interface its state of grace directly to its occupants, can also interface with every data source in a range of two solar systems. And it's also capable of recreating an external environment inside it.

**Woman: **You mean, like a holodeck?

**Observer: **_(winces) _Rose, please. Right. Around you is Earth, four hundred years after Rose's time. Have a wander. Run off if you want. There's no where to go. Because, there's no human life on Earth any more.

**Jake: **What? Did they leave?

**Ben: **No, they died out.

**Observer: **Exactly, Babar. You see, although the new humans weren't sterile, they were losing people faster than could be recreated. And the standard of perfect rises all the time. No one could match it, the next thing you know, one day, a planet without people.

**Woman: **This is a trick.

**Observer: **I wish. Young Chathingham here has given time the opportunity to go off in a completely new direction. And this is where it ends. Rose Tyler remakes the human race in, if not in her own image, a new one. The new humans wipe out the old ones, then themselves. All you did was keep the bloodshed going for two more centuries.

**Woman: **You're lying!

_The Observer snaps his fingers._

_They are back in the temple._

**Observer: **Why should I lie? I'm neutral. Like you said, it doesn't effect me if everything on this planet dies. So, do you trust me? Or not?

**Woman: **She'll still do it, Observer. She'll use it.

**Rose: **I won't. I promise.

**Woman: **You have to. You know you have to. Even if you can't remember why?

**Jake:** I'm sick of this cryptic bollocks. What is going to make her?

**Woman: **Jimmy Stone.

**Rose: **What about him?

**Woman: **You really don't know?

_Ben looks pensive._

**Ben: **We don't need to know. Just hand over the hypo and...

**Rose: **What about Jimmy Stone?

**Ben: **Rose, don't...

**Woman: **You left school for him. And Mickey. And mum. Forever. Not like with the Doctor, cause you were never going to come back. You... we must have blocked it all out. But I remember it.

**Rose: **What happened?

**Ben: **No, don't...

**Observer: **Shut it, Ben. She wants to know.

**Woman: **You know why she ditched you like that, Mickey? Not cause you did anything wrong, or even if Jimmy Stone did anything right. But she wanted her child to be with its father.

_Mickey's jaw drops._

**Mickey: **No. I mean, she didn't. She was only gone a few months. She wouldn't have...

**Rose: **I never had a baby. And I didn't have an abortion!

**Woman: **You didn't have a choice. Remember? In that camper van? And Jimmy getting worse and worse when no one wanted his band? When he blamed you? You remember that. _(Rose nods) _Remember the last night, the night it ended. When he stabbed you.

**Rose: **_(swallows) _He stabbed me?

**Mickey: **She weren't stabbed. I know ma woman, she doesn't have any scars.

**Woman: **It wasn't a bad injury. Just a nick. We might have forgiven Jimmy for that. But it wasn't the cut, it was falling out the van. And Jimmy wasn't apologizing, just screaming. And you went to the hospital. Cause you were bleeding.

**Rose: **_(starting to remember) _They... they said it was normal.

**Woman: **Yeah. But we didn't believe them. We had a scan. And there was the baby, safe and sound. Except, they couldn't find a heartbeat. You went home to mum, remember?

**Rose: **_(weeping) _I made her promise not to ask any questions. I kept bleeding.

**Mickey: **_(sad) _That why you wanted all those new PJs for your birthday.

**Woman: **See, Mickey, it makes sense? You remember the day she came back and apologized, and I would let you touch me? You know why now? Because two hours earlier, I was in mum's bathroom, lying on the floor, surrounded by my own blood.

**Rose: **It was perfect, Mickey. Perfect. _(sobs) _So tiny.

**Woman: **And dead. You flushed it away, cleared up the bathroom and forgot about it. But you know you screwed up once, Rose. One baby never lived its life because of you. And that's why you want this so much. Because you will do anything to not have to do that again. Hold a lump of meat that should be your baby. And you know that that chemical is all there is.

_Silence. Rose continues to sob into Mickey's shoulder._

**Ben: **You didn't have to make her remember that.

**Woman: **It's the truth.

**Ben: **Damn you for that.

**Woman: **It's the truth. Now she knows why she wants to save her children, she will. She must.

_Rose glares at them all, still crying._

**Rose: **No. I won't do it. It's not enough.

**Woman: **You've got to! What about Angel? What about the human race!

**Mickey: **Her body, her choice. Nice future, but we won't take it.

**Woman: **If you don't do this, our world will die!

**Ben: **You make your own futures. And you don't have one!

_Ben grabs the hypodermic._

_In the office, Ben crackles with lightning and unfreezes._

_Ben cries out, suddenly turning transparent. He hugs the hypo to his chest as he vanishes._

**Observer: **Time's up! The TARDIS isn't coping with the shifting timelines.

**Woman: **_(grins) _Which means all non-essentials will switch off. Like, say, state of grace?

**Observer: **Ah.

_A sudden vibration rocks through the room. Everyone sways. Badwolf pulls out a gun._

**Badwolf: **No! I will not let you destroy perfection!

**Observer: **You don't have much choice.

_She opens fire._

**Jake: **Down!

_Another earthquake._

_In the street outside, new humans are running and screaming. A strange breeze is blowing the clouds far too fast across the sky. The sky itself is being blown away to reveal a painful, aching white. The custodians look up in horror. The first is turning transparent, and looks down at himself in confusion. His fellow runs for it. The fading custodian cries out, but nothing can be heard as he vanishes. Other new humans are disappearing. The whole sky is blazing with the light that starts to consume the city._

**Woman: **What have you done? FOR GOD'S SAKE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

_The Observer rolls over and looks up at her._

**Observer: **Time is back on course. This realm can't exist. Mickey! Gotta move!

_Mickey doesn't respond._

**Jake: **Mickey! Come on!

_Mickey is staring at Rose. There is blood across her chest and her eyes are closed._

_Back at Torchwood, Ben is slumped against the wall. He has unwittingly stabbed himself with the chest with the hypo. With shaking hands he pulls it out and drops it to the ground. He laughs with undisguised hysteria._

**Ben:** _(giggles)_ Oh, this is just not FAIR!

_He falls flat on his face._

_The temple is shaking. Everyone is running and screaming. Mickey shakes Rose._

**Mickey: **Come on, girl, wake up! Wake up! Rose!

_She opens her eyes and speaks very softly._

**Rose: **I screwed it up. I screw everything up.

**Mickey: **No, no, you're perfect! You're fantastic! Now stay awake!

**Rose: **I'm so tired!

**Mickey: **JAKE! HELP ME!

**Rose: **Sorry, baby... So sorry...

_**To be concluded in 11:** The Cast Die_


	11. Chapter 11

_**11:**__ The Cast Die_

_Outside, the other custodian vanishes. All the city around the statue is disintegrating._

_Inside the statue head, Badwolf is turning transparent. The older Rose has snatched up the gun and aims it at the Observer as Mickey and Jake carry Rose._

**Badwolf: **Holy Mother! Save us! Save us!

**Observer: **She can't. Her world is ceasing to exist. Don't cry at me, you caused it.

**Woman: **Change this, Doctor! Stop it!

**Observer: **I've never been into genetic purity. It's a flaw.

**Woman: **Hah! You think that's what the CHAVS were? Don't you know anything? They were the stagnated ones, the ones that couldn't invent, create, it was the mutants that we were saving. Those who were evolving.

**Observer: **You still slaughtered thousands.

**Woman: **And I'll do you next. My Doctor or not, you ruined my life!

_The Observer raises his hands._

_Jake and Mickey run into the TARDIS and lower Rose onto the floor._

**Jake: **It's not bad, Mickey. Mickey, let me!

_He shoves him out of the way and tears off Rose's T-shirt to inspect the wound._

**Jake: **Went straight through her shoulder, just next to the arm pit. Not fatal.

**Mickey: **You think? Help her.

_Rose opens her eyes._

**Rose: **I'm so sorry.

**Mickey: **Don't be. Stay awake.

**Rose: **_(smirks) _Or what?

**Mickey: **_(smirks back) _No chips for a week.

_Jake gives Mickey a grave look. Mickey swallows._

**Mickey: **You'll be fine. Just stay awake.

_Mickey rises and heads for the door._

**Mickey: **I'll get a doctor.

_Outside, the Observer and the older Rose are the only ones left. The white nothing eats at the edges of the chamber._

**Woman: **I always came back for you. No matter what. And you abandoned me.

**Observer: **It wasn't me, Rose. And frankly, I don't trust your judgement in any case.

**Woman: **I should have let you die. Should have stayed behind. Saved myself pain.

**Observer: **Pain is life, life is pain, and anyone who says different works in advertising. Pain is what makes joy worth having. You can't enjoy food if you can't starve. And you've been starving for years, haven't you? Making everyone else starve as well.

**Woman: **I will change things back.

**Observer: **Not your choice to make, sadly. Mummy gets what she wants.

**Woman: **Not this time.

_Mickey appears._

**Mickey: **Doctor! Get your butt in here!

**Observer: **_(looks at woman) _Bit busy, Mickey!

**Woman: **One step closer, I shoot him! Perfection will be maintained!!

**Mickey: **Sorry, but I have had ENOUGH of this crap!

_Mickey snatches up an abandoned particle gun and fires it. The older Rose screams and fires randomly before she shimmers out of existance. The Observer grabs Mickey and they vanish. There is a wheezing groaning sound and then the whiteness consumes all._

_The Observer is breathing raggedly as he sets controls. Mickey and Jake are crouched over Rose. Jake is applying a bandage._

**Jake: **She's losing a lot of blood. Come on, there must be medicine aboard this ship.

**Observer: **_(sighs) _Not for humans. Sorry. Back to Torchwood.

**Jake: **The place is in lock down.

**Observer: **Mickey.... Mickey!

_Mickey tears his gaze from Rose, furious._

**Mickey: **What?

_The Observer hands him a sonic screwdriver._

**Observer: **Setting 2356. Press down for sixteen seconds and it should revive the circuitry of your complex... Make it twenty seconds, just to be sure.

_Mickey looks at the screwdriver. He frowns._

**Mickey: **There's blood on this.

_The Observer grins._

**Observer: **That's the trouble with time paradoxes. Magic bullets really are magic. (shivers) Leave holes even though they never existed.

_He grips the console. There is blood on his hands._

**Mickey: **Doctor...

**Observer: **Don't worry about me, Mickey. There's always a price to pay.

**Mickey: **That's what Rose said.

**Observer: **Then it's better she doesn't pay the price, eh? _(frowns)_ Is it me or is it getting dark?

_Mickey frowns and looks around._

**Mickey: **No, wh--

_The Observer collapses onto Mickey and then slides to the ground. Mickey rolls him onto his back, but the Time Lord is dead. Blood trickles from his mouth. Jake calls over from applying the torniquet to Rose's arm._

**Jake: **What's happening?

**Mickey: **Doesn't matter, Jake, just focus on Rose.

_Mickey closes the Observer's eyes._

**Mickey: **I was just getting used to having you round again.

_He crosses to Jake and they looks down at Rose._

**Mickey: **How's she?

**Jake: **I've managed to staunch the bleeding, but...

_Rose's eyes close and everything goes dark._

_Darkness._

_It grows light again. A familiar face appears, first stern, then smiling._

**Doctor: **See? Told you she'd be fine.

**Rose: **_(groggy)_ Doctor?

**Doctor: **Observer. But, you know, I think I might take up the old moniker again.

_Rose lies in bed on a drip. Mickey, in casual clothes sits beside her. At the end of the bed, in a hospital gown is a regenerated Observer. He sits down beside the bed._

**Rose: **Where's Mickey?

**Mickey: **Right here, babe.

**Rose: **You all right?

**Mickey: **Oh, you know. Haven't been able to relax for the last few years, been worried sick about you and the baby, but I'll live. You too. Turns out your anemic, babe.

**Rose: **Oh.

**Doctor: **Ah, don't worry about it. Bit of a different diet, do you wonders. Plenty of iron!

_Rose laughs weakly._

**Rose: **How long he's been like this?

**Mickey: **Changed in the TARDIS.

**Doctor: **Regenerated, thank you. Difference is purely perceptual, Mickey.

**Rose: **Like dogs on Barcelona?

**Doctor: **BARCELONA! Yes, I've got to go there! One problem though, rather. Jumping between time tracks was a bit too much for my TARDIS. These new things, all plastic. I was wondering _(checks no one else is looking)_ if you might put me up for a bit.

**Rose: **You asking for a job?

**Doctor: **Well, no, more sort of rent free accomodation. But I know the odd thing about aliens, maybe as much as Miss Smith here. _(leans forward) _What do you say?

**Rose: **_(giggles) _I'm doped up on pain killers and concussed!

**Doctor: **Best time to ask then, eh?

**Rose: **_(laughs)_What do you say, Mickey?

**Mickey: **You're asking me?

**Rose: **I'm asking you.

**Mickey: **Well, the motto of Torchwood is 'if it's alien, give it a chance'. You can start on Monday.

**Doctor: **Brilliant! And, you know, if I'm not good at this alien business, I have been known to make a fantastic babysitter! Now, I'm the Doctor, I better go onto my rounds. Other patients to see! Alonzi, Mr and Mrs Smith!

_Waving, he leaves. Rose smiles._

**Mickey: **Well, you wanna keep the separation private then, babe?

**Rose: **_(upset)_Separation?

**Mickey: **Like you're gonna spend any time with me now he's back.

**Rose: **_(shakes head) _Nah. He was right. She was right. I got addicted to the Doctor. Maybe he got addicted to me. I'm not helping anyone pining over him. I got you and mum and dad and Angel. The Doctor wouldn't want me to give that up.

**Mickey: **You promise?

**Rose: **You bet. I'm still in this bed, aren't I?

**Mickey: **Well, Jake did suggest strapping you down. I got really excited at that bit.

**Rose: **You're looking for a smack you are.

**Mickey: **Even better! _(sobers)_ Anything else you've been holding out on me?

**Rose: **What do you mean?

**Mickey: **About the baby.

**Rose: **What about the baby?

**Mickey: **Little bird says if I were get a stethoscope I'd get three heartbeats out of you. Now one is yours, and the others?

_Rose starts laughing. A lot._

**Mickey: **What? What?

**Rose: **You think it's the Doctor's? You big idiot!

**Mickey: **I'm not an idiot!

**Rose:** You are so an idiot!

**Mickey: **What about the two hearts?!

**Rose: **It's twins, dummy!

_Mickey's jaw drops._

**Mickey: **Twins?

**Rose: **It was gonna be a surprise.

**Mickey: **Twins? My twins?

**Rose: **Your twins!

_Mickey jumps up in the air._

**Mickey: **YES! WE'RE HAVING TWINS! YEESSS!

_Full of joy, he grabs Rose and kisses her. She kisses him back._

**Mickey: **Eh, eh, wait a minute. If you wanted it as a surprise, why crack now?

_Rose whispers in his ear._

**Mickey: **_(baffled) _Your what has broken? _(blinks) _Right. I'll get Griffin!

**Rose: **Nah. He'll be back soon. Stay.

_Mickey smiles._

**Mickey: **For you, I got all the time in the world.

_He sits down beside her._

**Mickey: **You know, I always thougth Rita was a good name for a girl. Or Anne...

**Rose: **How about Jennifer?

**Mickey: **"Jenny Smith"? OK, but no Johns...

**Rose: **_(grins) _Never! The world doesn't need another John Smith!

_In another part of the hospital, Ben lies pale and ill. The Doctor arrives._

**Doctor: **Hello, Ben.

**Ben: **_(weak) _Hey... W-what's the verdict?

**Doctor: **About your health, you mean?

**Ben: **No one will tell me. I'm dying, aren't I?

_The Doctor sits down beside Ben._

**Doctor: **You've got some kind of rare genetic kink in your system. The fertility chemical's gone mad trying to understand it, turned toxic. They've given you a total blood transfusion, but all it's done is give you a few extra hours.

**Ben: **So this is why no one knows who I am.

**Doctor: **Oh, come on, Benji boy! The Time Lords are a bunch of stuffed shirts who don't even know what century they're watching most of the time - I certainly don't trust their judgement. You see, Ben, you know what the Gia Syndrome is?

**Ben: **En...lighten me...

**Doctor: **All right. The Earth is a living thing, a sentient being that can affect everything that occurs there. Now, humanity gets out of control, breeds too much, the Earth puts a stop to it. Happens on tonnes of planets, except humanity's DNA has been tinkered and improved by all sorts - some of them even human themselves - and the reset button doesn't get pressed. However, that toxic battleground inside you hit the reset button. You're fertile now.

**Ben: **Much good it'll do me.

**Doctor: **But your children would be yours. Not the allsorts of that future. Proper children, taking from their parents, just like they should. Griffins' already trying to work out a non-fatal version, and I have the odd idea how to help... You saved the world, Ben Chatham.

**Ben: **You got my name right.

**Doctor: **_(shrugs) _Ah, regeneration, helps clear the mental decks.

**Ben: **That's why history changed isn't it?

_The Doctor is quiet._

**Doctor: **Yeah. Clever, aren't you? Mickey would have jabbed you, you would have dropped dead, they would have found the solution. With you out of order, Rose would have used the old stuff on herself, her pre-existing children would corrupt the chemical, causing a mutant strain, whole new timeline, etc etc.

**Ben: **So, basically, it was all for nothing. Either way, I died.

**Doctor: **Everything has its time. Everything dies. You and I chose to interfere, Ben. Niether of us had to, we both had to pay the price.

**Ben: **We just put things back the way they were.

**Doctor: **Did we? What about Mickey and Rose. We saved them. Not just their history or their children, but their souls. We made a difference, Ben! Just the two of us!

**Ben: **Fat lot of good... it does me... Can't you help?

**Doctor: **No. _(beat)_ But I could talk to Rose. Not now, she's a bit busy at the moment crushing Mickey's left hand, but afterwards. I could get her to make you a statue? Put it up next to the Queen Victoria one? Or we could make it Ben Chatham day, a holiday for everyone?

**Ben: **Who cares?

**Doctor: **Well, I do. I can't save you, I can't even ease your pain. What can I do?

_Ben weakly smiles._

_The Doctor helps Ben stagger into his TARDIS and gently lies him against the doors._

**Doctor: **You're sure about this?

**Ben: **Course I am... I gotta first from Cambridge...

**Doctor: **_(grins) _And you should be justly proud.

_The Doctor taps at the console for a moment. He turns to Ben._

**Doctor: **I'll be off now... _(sighs) _It has been an honor to know you, Ben Chatham.

_Ben nods. The Doctor leaves. Slowly, the control room fades away, leaving Ben propped against the pavement in a city full of glass sky scrapers. People are walking by, laughing, smiling, dressed in strange clothes. Aliens walk amongst them, and flying cars slice through the sky. Ben smiles broadly._

**Ben: **So this is the future I made...

_He giggles and closes his eyes. Gradually zoom out as the simulation continues, unfolding around Ben's still form._

The End.


End file.
